[Art Review]

Original title: great charm, small brilliance

Deng Qifan

Recently, the evaluation results of the fifth batch of national first-class museums (i.e. the highest level museums in China) were announced, and 123 museums were listed. This means that the number of first-class museums in China has reached 327.

To many people's surprise, many small museums have appeared in the public list. For example, four of the five new first level museums in Shanghai are Qian Xuesen Library, a university museum, Shanghai University Museum, Jiading Museum and Fengxian District Museum, which are classified as district and county museums.

Why is it unexpected? It can be seen from the list of the first four batches of national first-class museums: the Palace Museum, the China Science and Technology Museum, the China National Museum, the Shanghai Museum, the Henan Museum... On the list of the highest level museums in the country, most of them are "national" or "provincial" museums.

Bo, Guangya. The larger the museum, the more famous it is, and the more complete its exhibits, the more attractive they will be. This time, why can these small halls be ranked with these big ones?

Take Fengxian District Museum as an example. It is a high appearance building located on the bank of Jinhai Lake. In recent years, it has no shortage of "top points": "harmony and elegance - Yongzheng Palace Museum Cultural Relics Exhibition", "light of ancient Shu - Sanxingdui Jinsha Site Unearthed Cultural Relics Exhibition", "Danjia Qingwen - Chinese Character Cultural Relics Exhibition"... These special exhibitions have attracted many tourists to the remote suburbs of Shanghai.

——Small halls can hold "big" exhibitions.

Luoyang Ancient Tomb Museum is a rare museum in China that systematically reflects the development and changes of ancient tombs. The museum has done a lot of projects to "make cultural relics live". Through the interactive exhibition mode, tourists can deeply understand the historical story and cultural connotation behind cultural relics in their participation. This year, more than 10000 tourists are received every day during the May Day holiday.

——The small hall can be "refined".

Qian Xuesen Library launched the original live immersion script experience "Return to 1955" to explore new ideas and methods of ideological and political education. Audiences can get the "task code", read the "secret script", look for clues in luggage and handbags

——Although the pavilion is small, it provides many services with great care.

From this point of view, whether a museum is "first-class" or not has nothing to do with its size. The small hall also has great connotation and fun. As long as you put your heart into it, the small hall can also have its own characteristics, highlights and circles.

In fact, with the deep integration of culture and tourism in recent years, small thematic museums themselves have been constantly excavated and gradually become popular. Some of these museums display regional culture, some focus on industry changes, and some focus on special themes, accurately set audience groups, and do a good job in professional development to present unique features. At the same time, they have also taken actions to strengthen their ties with the public. The original barriers have been gradually broken, and some even become "online red card punches".

Some people once criticized that domestic museums face "one thousand museums, one side", and most of the criteria for judging museums are "stock", which is strongly related to the quantity and quality of collections. Now, everyone is starting to change and embark on a unique development path. The external judgment standard is also gradually relying on "increment", that is, what kind of cultural products and services can be provided. Each museum has gradually realized that as long as it works hard on characteristics and specialties, and then expands the dimensions of education, and builds a bridge to communicate with the public, "small" museums can also earn big eyes and attract large traffic.

The data shows that in 2023, 268 new museums will be put on record in China, and the total number of museums in China will reach 6833, ranking the top in the world. China is a veritable country of museums. Large museums have the charm of large ones, and small ones also have the brilliance of small ones. Museums don't have to seek perfection all the time. Only by matching the beautiful museums with each other can we build a more sound and perfect public cultural service system.

Of course, compared with those large museums, small and medium-sized museums have relatively limited resources. Only by putting more care and support into them from all aspects, can their development continue to be successful.